An interview with Steve Rotman who, with Chris Brennan, put out a book on graffiti in the Bay Area published through Mark Batty. Dan Carlson interviews.
While most people are grinding their days away working for "the man," Steve Rotman (better known to his online fans as "funkandjazz" is living his dream. He's out finding the most recent crew production, taking photos of rooftop throwies, seeing who went through and hit up some tags last night or, on a good day, exploring the creepiest abandoned factory you can imagine. All this fueled by his passion for documenting graffiti, an art form that has been deemed illegal, is created by rebels, and oftentimes mastered by kids not old enough to vote.

I met Steve through our mutual interest: hunting graffiti. Over the years we've become good friends. I recently sat down with him to talk about his just-released book, Bay Area Graffiti. - Dan Carlson

Dan Carlson: Steve, congratulations on the new book, Bay Area Graffiti. Let's start by having you tell us a little bit about it.

Steve Rotman: Sure, thanks Dan. The book is the result of my ongoing obsession with finding and photographing graffiti all over the Bay Area, a fascination that began in the spring of 2004. The book presents some of the best, most interesting representative graffiti I photographed during those years. There are more than 700 photos from locations in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, the North Bay, South Bay, all over really. There's a wide range of types of graffiti including tagging, bombing, chill spots, and large, legal productions. Plus, over a couple years, I interviewed more than forty graffiti writers who were prominent in the scene and brief segments of those interviews are featured throughout the book. The book aims to showcase through the photos and quotes the flavor and highlights of the very exciting Bay graffiti scene.

*Click images for larger view

D: So this book isn't a history of Bay Area graffiti?

S: I'm glad you asked that. No, it's definitely not a Bay Area graffiti history book. The history of graffiti here extends back at least several decades. I've been shooting graffiti for only about five years. The documentary "Piece By Piece," which came out a few years ago, is a great place to start for anybody who wants to learn more about San Francisco's rich graffiti history. My book presents a whole lot of graffiti from a very specific time-roughly four years.

D: Looking through your book, I realized that most of the graffiti in it is now gone. It's been painted over, buffed out or-in the case of many of the buildings you explored-the whole building has been demolished. One spot that has completely changed is the N-Judah tunnel. It's been entirely buffed of all graffiti. I noticed you have photos in the book of pieces that were in the tunnel. What was it like to be in a Muni train tunnel covered end to end with graffiti? And without giving specifics, is there anything like it still out there?

S: Photographing in that tunnel was one of the most intense graffiti experiences I've had. There's nothing quite like being surrounded by about a mile of tunnel completely covered with graffiti, some of it painted many years before-and when I say covered, I mean walls, ceiling, train tracks, everything! Seeing and photographing all that color and creativity while dodging speeding Muni trains in a dimly lit tunnel in the middle of the night was incredible. It's such a tragedy that it's all gone-so much art and history destroyed in a few days. That was really a kind of graffiti wonderland. Is there anything like it still out there around the bay? I'd have to say no. Of course there are locations where there's a lot of graffiti. But I can't think of anything that even comes close in terms of the sheer volume of graffiti that was in there, or the atmosphere of that location. If there's anything like that out there now, I don't know about it. But I sure wish I did!

D: Having known you for most of the time you've been documenting graffiti, I've always found it interesting that you've lived in San Francisco since the late 80's but you didn't start "seeing" graffiti until 2004. What opened your eyes to it? And what is it about photographing graffiti that's kept you so interested since then?

S: Yeah, that's right. It's crazy... I've lived here twenty years and had no interest in graffiti until five years ago. Before that, I didn't dislike graffiti-I just never really noticed it. I've been an active hobbyist photographer all my life. I used to be into different subject matter. I was a hiker for years, for example, and used to shoot a lot of landscape stuff: clouds, desert scenes, sunsets, forests. But about five years ago, I shifted to taking more walks in the city and being in a more urban mode. During those walks I got really into photographing the many murals around the city. I was drawn to the art and the colors and also the way digital photography made it easier to capture the art. Little by little, I discovered and began to photograph the graffiti murals around the city. And they totally grabbed me-I couldn't get enough of them, which was a little strange-I had no idea, really, what I was seeing. In many cases I didn't get that I was looking at words and letters. But it didn't matter much because I was so impressed by just the visual experience: the vivid colors and the bold, wild shapes. As I shot more graffiti murals, I began to ask around about them and ultimately a friend directed me to the classic graffiti documentary "Style Wars." That was my real introduction to the basics of graffiti culture-it helped me understand at least a little of what I was seeing on city walls. Then I began to read a lot about graffiti online and checked out a lot of graffiti photos online. I started buying graffiti books and magazines. I got hooked! Ever since, I've been fascinated by graffiti and photograph it constantly.

D: You mention viewing photos online. You and I are on Flickr almost every day, posting photos, or seeing what others have posted. Was the online community helpful while you were putting your book together?

S: The online community has been essential. In many ways, the book project got rolling because so many within the graffiti culture urged me to make a book after viewing my daily photo posts. All these years of posting online helped me develop some familiarity and, more importantly, credibility within the graffiti culture. That credibility made it easier for me to reach out to writers for interviews. I'd say throughout the process of making the book, support and enthusiasm for the project expressed by people online fueled the effort, and I'm thankful for all that encouragement.

D: So how is it for you to view your photos on the pages of the book? Is it different than viewing the photos online?

S: It's definitely cool to see the photos actually printed on paper in a completed book! My book partner, Chris Brennan, and I worked hard for a long time to put this all together, so it's exciting to finally page through the finished product. I have to say that holding it has kind of reminded me about one of the reasons I wanted to make a book instead of just having photos online. To me, there's something more "real" or permanent about the feeling of a book and the printed page compared to a computer screen-maybe I'm showing my age there! Before I started this project I was so impressed by all the books on the market about the New York graffiti scene, and the graffiti culture in Los Angeles. And I felt the remarkable graffiti scene I was documenting here deserved similar treatment-a permanent celebration in book form, something you can hold, something tangible. It's gratifying for sure to have that dream become a reality.

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John Trippe: We know there can be beef and stuff with graffiti. You notice any of that and any problems from any of the writers in creating the book?

S: There was plenty of beef between writers on the streets throughout the time I was making the book. It had no effect on the process. Beef is always a part of graffiti, but it's something I try to avoid. I try to be a neutral documenter and I tried to have a neutral mindset putting the book together. I didn't have any serious problems from writers while working on the book. Most writers seemed happy that I was making the book and encouraged me to keep at it.

J: How is the graffiti scene today? It seems the city has been trying to "clean up" a bit... I also often think about how expensive the city is to live in these days compared to like 10 years ago. I know you've been only following for the last 5 or so years, but from what you know, how is it different from back then if at all?

S: Great question. I do only feel qualified to comment on the scene during the time I've been involved, about five years. And yes, it's true that San Francisco has cracked down aggressively in the last few years. "The buff," as writers say, is quicker and more thorough than it used to be and I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge that that's had an effect. There's much less graffiti in the city today than just a few years ago. Many of the "chill" spots no longer exist. Many have been shut down or made impossible to paint. It won't be a surprise to anybody that I think that's a tragedy. I love graffiti, and it makes me sad to see the scene deteriorate. An active graffiti culture makes San Francisco a far more interesting and colorful place. It seems to me there are far more useful ways to spend the millions the city wastes on graffiti removal. There are reasons to be optimistic, though. The East Bay has an exciting scene right now with a lot of extremely active, talented, prolific writers. Also, many writers tell me that there are always cycles-periods of more or less graffiti. I hope there will be a shift back to more abundant graffiti in San Francisco in the future.

J: Any good trespassing police incidents while trying to get photos?

S: No, not really. I've been fortunate. Everything's worked out well. I've been told to leave locations a few times. But no major problems. Knock on wood.

J: Ever try writing anything yourself?

S: No. Writers have coaxed me to give it a try for years, but it's not my thing. And honestly, I don't want to embarrass myself!-I think I'd be a terrible graffiti writer. I'm a photographer and a graffiti fan, and I'm content with that. Best to leave the writing to the professionals!

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

I don't think at this point it needs to be written since the last update to Fecal Face was a long time ago, but...

I, John Trippe, have put this baby Fecal Face to bed. I'm now focusing my efforts on running ECommerce at DLX which I'm very excited about... I guess you can't take skateboarding out of a skateboarder.

It was a great 15 years, and most of that effort can still be found within the site. Click around. There's a lot of content to explore.

I'm not sure how many people are lucky enough to have The San Francisco Giants 3 World Series trophies put on display at their work for the company's employees to enjoy during their lunch break, but that's what happened the other day at Deluxe. So great.

When works of art become commodities and nothing else, when every endeavor becomes “creative” and everybody “a creative,” then art sinks back to craft and artists back to artisans—a word that, in its adjectival form, at least, is newly popular again. Artisanal pickles, artisanal poems: what’s the difference, after all? So “art” itself may disappear: art as Art, that old high thing. Which—unless, like me, you think we need a vessel for our inner life—is nothing much to mourn.

Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional—the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it? --continue reading

"[Satire] is important because it brings out the flaws we all have and throws them up on the screen of another person," said Turner. “How they react sort of shows how important that really is.” Later, he added, "Charlie took a hit for everybody." -read on

NYC --- A new graffiti abatement program put forth by the police commissioner has beat cops carrying cans of spray paint to fill in and cover graffiti artists work in an effort to clean up the city --> Many cops are thinking it's a waste of resources, but we're waiting to see someone make a project of it. Maybe instructions for the cops on where to fill-in?

The NYPD is arming its cops with cans of spray paint and giving them art-class-style lessons to tackle the scourge of urban graffiti, The Post has learned.

Shootings are on the rise across the city, but the directive from Police Headquarters is to hunt down street art and cover it with black, red and white spray paint, sources said... READ ON

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

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